Ideal Six: Making the world a better place, one council at a time

Ideal Six – Sri Lanka’s homegrown innovative mobile app development company – offers modern waste management solutions and other such services to urban councils via its digital platform, thus creating the perfect link between local councils and the people. From digital alerts and notifications, to complaint management, payment assistance and file management, the Ideal Six platform provides comprehensive solutions for local councils and communities.

Ideal Six traces its beginnings to the third edition of HackaDev – Sri Lanka’s premier hackathon for youngsters organised annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – where it emerged as the national winner of the competition in 2017 for its mobile app-based waste management system. As a result, the startup was granted seed capital by the UNDP to begin its entrepreneurial journey which led to its maiden test project with the Embilipitiya Urban Council.

The application’s resounding success with the Embilipitiya Urban Council secured Ideal Six an opportunity with the Western Provincial Waste Management Authority, gaining the chance to implement yet another successful pilot project for the Minuwangoda Urban Council. It was then that Ideal Six was officially authorised to expand its solution to other local councils. 

What initially started out as a zero-budget waste management solution from a young graduate of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, with the support of the UNDP and the tech community, was officially established as a business in 2019. It was during the COVID-19 viral outbreak that Ideal Six gained the opportunity to participate as an Incubatee in UNDP Sri Lanka’s HackaDev Enterprise Support Programme which is collaborated by Curve Up (Pvt) Ltd – a consultancy that utilises education technology to empower local communities, startups and SMEs.

Today, Ideal Six is one of the most innovative homegrown tech companies driven by the transformative vision to digitise local councils. With the primary aim of automating waste management, the Ideal Six app allows people to track garbage trucks, mark their own locations, and send in their complaints to local authorities via an inbuilt complaint management system. However, while it offers a systematic solution to effectively dispose garbage and sewage, it also serves as a significant platform for municipalities and local councils to discuss other social issues and streamline their services accordingly.

“We are a local company with a burning passion to transform local services through customisable and easy-to-use digital tools. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitisation across industries, and we seek to seamlessly integrate local councils into this digital dive. Ideal Six is equipped to identify, develop and tailor digital solutions that deliver better-targeted and more efficient public services. And we look forward to collaborating with more young entrepreneurs, local councils, and the government to support this transformation and help local authorities get better value from the technologies they use,” stated Ideal Six Founder and CEO Suresh Madushan.

To date, Ideal Six has witnessed 5,364 app downloads and over 850 active accounts on the digital platform, offering the best and most-trusted solutions to local councils for the past three years and counting. Furthermore, there are over 30 daily active users on the platform.

Ideal Six was recognised and awarded for its groundbreaking waste management solution at the 2019 World Conference on Waste Management (WCWM). Additionally, it emerged the winner of the Smart Settlement and Urbanisation category at the 2019 e-Swabhimani Awards ceremony, thereby gaining the opportunity to represent Sri Lanka at the 2020 World Summit Awards. Ideal Six was among the top 16 companies in the world to have been shortlisted for the same.

The company is currently working in association with the Gampaha Pradeshiya Sabha and Bentota Pradeshiya Sabha – consistently striving to develop and provide digital innovative solutions for the community alongside technology training for government staff. It is geared to launch its services in Bentota in May this year.

Ideal Six’s primary goal is to promote the concept of smart cities across the island by extending its mobile app to all parts of the country. And it is of the strong conviction that community issues such as improper waste management can be solved with the wholehearted support of the public sector.